Arts Council Grants FAQ’s
Arts Council Grants award funds from The National Lottery with a focus on art and culture projects.
What does Arts Council England fund?
Arts Council England looks for organisations, events, artists, initiatives and others to apply for their funding. They hope they can help them achieve their strategy, Let’s Create.
What Arts Council grants are available in 2021?
At the time of writing (February 2021) there was only one Arts Council Grants fund available. More are due to be coming soon.
Some recently closed Arts Council Grants include:
- The Culture Recovery Fund. This offered financial support for cultural organisations that were at imminent risk of failure due to COVID-19.
- The Thriving Communities Fund, which was designed to increase social connectedness, helping communities cope with the impact of COVID-19.
National Lottery Project Grants
The National Lottery Project Grants is an open access programme for art, museums and library projects. The project has a fund of £77.9 million that’s available until April 2021. They have recently and quickly reopened this programme to help fund independent organisations, creative practitioners and freelancers.
There have been a couple of changes to this fund. This is to make it more responsive to the needs of independent SMEs and individual practitioners during COVID-19. They offer grants ranging from £1,000 – £100,000.
Due to COVID-19 Arts Council Grants England are particularly keen to support:
- Application from individual creative practitioners.
- Research and developmental activities.
- Organisation development activities.
- Live activities that can be safely delivered soon, rather than one with a start date far in the future.
- Activities that closely align with their Equality Objectives.
Who can apply?
Community and cultural organisations, museums, libraries and individual artists and practitioners can apply for this grant. It’s worth noting that working with a Grant Writing Consultant can help increase your chances of success. If you’ve never written a grant proposal before, it can be daunting to know where to start. A Grant Writing Consultant can help guide you through the process or take care of it all for you. They know what funders are looking for and how you can secure grants for businesses.
What can I apply for?
The National Lottery Project Grants are looking for projects that engage people in England with creativity and culture. They particularly look to award funding for arts, museums and libraries projects.
Are there any key dates?
The National Lottery Project Grants are open all the time. This means there are no deadlines for submissions. However, the budget of £75million is only available until March 2021.
How do I apply for funding?
Applying to the National Lottery Project has three steps:
- Take the quiz
Arts Council England offers a quiz as the first stage of the application. This is to help you think about the different aspects of your project. It can help get you ready to begin your application.
- Read the guidance
The next step is to read the documents and supplementary guidance for the grant. If you’re applying for grants that are £15,000 or under, you’ll receive a decision in six to ten weeks. Grants that are over £15,000 will take 12 to 16 weeks.
- Register on Grantium
Arts Council grants can be applied for via their online application portal, Grantium. You need to register your applicant profile online before you apply for any opportunities. This may take one to two days to be validated, so it’s best to set up a profile as soon as you can. You want to ensure you’re validated in time for any applications for funds you’ve chosen.
Need help with writing your grant application?
Our Grant Writing Service is for businesses who want to start applying for grants, but don’t know where to begin. If you don’t have the resources or the time in-house to write a winning grant – we can help. Our Grant Consultants have over 60 years of experience in bidding for funding and grants. They can take care of the whole thing for you – they’ll even submit it on your behalf. Whether it’s council business grants, start-up business grants or grants for charities. They can help you bid for funding efficiently.
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